Coming out in 2000, the Wayans and their parody entrepenuers were up against another film taking the piss out of the Scream license, that being Scream 3. One would end a franchise (for a while) that started with greatness and the other would start another franchise that wish it could be as clever as the other film however dumb it is.

Much how Craven revisited Woodsboro eleven years later, there was a morbid curiosity in seeing if sixteen years later Scary Movie ever deserved even one sequel. Almost guiltily the potential for a franchise is there in a lowbrow if decent enough comedy. Perhaps it's an ironic form of nostalgia having witnessed the desolate laugh vacuums that were the later entries such as Epic Movie or Disaster Movie but the original is not that bad at all.

It's biggest compliment being it actually resembles a film. In that it follows a basic three act structure, has a natural pace adopted from source material, and even characters that abide by basic archetypes while showing a smidgen of actor personality. These all seem a given however after enduring the quality of the latter films, the restrained assemblage of film parodies here all compliment each other well, tied together and flowing along with a sense of competency long gone now.

After complimenting the actual ability to parody horror films, this is also a Wayans film. It's not entirely unexpected that a fair 80% of the punchlines are basically "the joke is I'm black" with the other percent being "I'm gay". While the diet-homophobia is fairly tone deaf (the killer's motive simply being he's gay, oh wait, one of them just 'acts' gay... cue laughter) the Wayans do manage to land a solid amount of racial humour. One timeless if easy gag being the all black news team reporting they're "getting the fuck outta here!" before speeding off. It's also funny in an ever-so-slightly awkward way watching Scream afterwards the sheer complete absence of any POC actors in that film, which seems to be intentionally and heavily corrected in the sequel.

It's this humour that seems to answer the age old debate of whether a bold and uncompromising comedy like Blazing Saddles could be made today. Let's be clear: the Wayans are no Mel Brooks. That being said, it's almost disappointing that after a first solid entry, the Scary Movie franchise could've improved over time and become almost respectable in skewering of the genre. Unfortunately it strayed from scary movies like Icarus attempting to tackle all of cinema and forgot what the word satire meant.

Much like Scream 2, the original was a huge success (if only financial) and everyone knew the inevitable sequel had to be bigger, bolder, and even better. In both cases they failed though Scream 2 is a decent follow-up and Scary Movie 2 is not decent. At all, really.

Parody and satire are two forms of comedy that overlap well. Parody to be making fun of a particular film while satire targets an institution or ideal. The first Scream satirized the horror genre and the audience's awareness of formulaic conventions of cinema. Scream 2 to a lesser extent satirized the necessity of sequels while Scream 3 became a parody of itself. Scary Movie 2 attempts neither and, as Scary Movie 1 did with Scream, popularized the trend of referential humour. Do you remember this scene from that movie? Well here it is but dumber, no real punchline or set-up, just try and find the laughter yourself.

The film is slower, looser, and plain meanders through what coherent plot there is. Whereas the adopted structure of Scream gave a natural flowing pace, the new targeted genre of the Old Dark House is so poorly accomplished. The two biggest strengths of films such as The Haunting and the House on Haunted Hill being suspense and atmosphere. Unless a complete absence of those two counts for parody then the writers are left with resorting to arbitrary current pop culture nods from Charlie's Angels to Nike commercials with little to no connective tissue between scenes.

That Nike reference becomes a perfect summary of the Movie franchise from here onward. The riff of The Changeling into the basketball commercial is an almost clever subversion and yet they expect audiences to laugh continuously through every single character performing dribbling and passing until you forget what movie you're even watching. Monotony leads to false expectations of a punchline but there is none bar a character getting hit in the nuts before just moving on with the next scene.

I give the original Scary Movie some credit. It is lazy in just taking Scream's formula almost scene for scene but at least moves with a steady pace and some sense of purpose. These sequels are the equivalent of a YouTube playlist of fan-made parodies of completely unrelated films.

Like an old man trying to understand how to use their grandchild's tablet, Resurrection is an irony riddled attempt from a film in 2002 trying to defibrillate a franchise started in 1978. Given this is the eighth and last of the canon series, it seems fitting for the man that started it all returning to end it. Not Carpenter of course, but Rosenthal who directed the pleasantly fine second entry that helped popularize the killer that just refuses to kick the bucket.

Also returning is finish things is Jamie Lee Curtis who firmly ended her relationship with the franchise by dying in the prologue. Much like the prior film of comically beating Myers' ass, Jamie is ready for round eight but shockingly, and rather limply, loses in a scenario reminiscent of Halloween 2.

But here lies the problem, whether it be supernatural orders found in the dreadful and oft skipped 'Thorn trilogy' or simple cinematic storytelling, Michael Myers did it. He achieved his goal, his mission in life, his series story arc in murdering his entire family. In effect he has no meaning to exist, which cements him in the same position of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger who were all having so much fun they forget why they even started.

Who do we have now? Who knows, I sure can't remember the forgettable cast of fodder this time around. Save for Tyra Banks in a small throwaway role and Busta "Trick or treat, motherfucker" Rhymes as the man to canonically take down the Shape for the last time. No real threat since Paul Rudd also accomplished that. Those two (Banks and Rhymes) working together on an online reality show exploring spooky tourist attractions leads to uninspired and poorly directed portable camera portions that resemble the found footage craze that boomed before and then after this film.

There also happens to be two characters that watch this at a Halloween party and aiding in the protagonist's survival, absurdly but entertainingly they wear Pulp Fiction costumes the entire film. As bizarre as it is to see a white guy try to act serious watching live murders while wearing an afro and goatee, it's pretty great to see recognisable costumes on screen.

Mentioning Jason and Freddy before, it's strange to witness the ends of these franchises. Even with reboots and rebirths, it's still morbidly curious to see just how confident and desperate studios were to maintain a franchise with no regard to quality or quantity. Fittingly the franchises end up resembling the icons themselves, disfigured and devolved yet still lurching onward. But moreso, that it's the masks that instilled that magic, like the people embodying those killers, it's the directors, actors, producers, and studios that regularly rotate to wearing them. Copycat killers trying their best, or not, to score their name crudely alongside the originators by rekindling the legacy.

Like Kung Fury and Hobo With a Shotgun before it, Simard, Whissell, and Whissell have adapted the aesthetic and nostalgia of bygone cinematic eras to deliver their own passionate stories from the heart.

With such cartoon vibrancy Turbo Kid could almost be mistaken for a family film. Only making the playful and inventive bloodshed more shocking in a fun blend of Tarantino slickness and Romero creativity. The resourceful cinematography squeezes the most out of sparse locations with a purposefully minimalist post-apocalypse. The particularly lo-fi design distinguishes itself from any pretense to emulate the excessive dystopias of Mad Max and Escape From New York. If anything the reliance of melee combat and pedal bicycles seems hilariously realistic given how difficult vehicle and weapon maintenance would be in such harsh wastelands.

Performances are lighthearted and sincere to the script, which relies less on parody and more focused on simply telling a warming story with fun characters. Ironside lends name recognition and given his career of low-rent bad guys, brings a good deal of genuine charisma to the theatrical villainy.

It would be a disservice to not detail the film's most entertaining element being Laurence Leboeuf's supporting role of Apple. Incessantly plucky and yet hypnotically delightful, it's a disservice she's even the supporting role for such a standout performance. Leboeuf's enchanting portrayal is the defining example of the cast raising the generic parodies above stereotypes into charming and watchable characters.

That being said, Turbo Kid does falter in a common screenwriting trap that can plague these passion projects. In such a weird and wonderful world, why is it that the titular Turbo Kid is the dullest character in the film? Chambers is a decent amiable actor for sure but follows the same predictable hero journey we've seen a hundred times.

A fun-filled romp with enjoyable visual flair, by far not the first or last of it's kind, I could only recommend and hope that more of these films shine the spotlight on their own wonderful Apples in the future of 1997.

]]>Devon ElsonSo Bad They're Bad: Worth Literally One Watchhttps://letterboxd.com/absolutetravist/list/so-bad-theyre-bad-worth-literally-one-watch/ letterboxd-list-1039469Thu, 26 May 2016 22:24:12 +1200These are a lot of bad films I happen to have seen. I'm quite a positive person so I can usually find and appreciate the efforts and potential in most... but then there are some that just a waste of time.